Kaido Always Fell from the Sky

As one of the last groups of Pirates to leave, the Roger Pirates' ship was also pursued by the Marines. However, the Marines' main efforts were focused on completely destroying God Valley.

That island had to be reduced to ashes. It was Imu's highest order. Roger and his group had little trouble shaking off the Marine pursuit.

Although Imu was a particularly troublesome ability-based boss, over the long years, he had also developed an attitude of indifference toward reality.

As long as it did not involve Joy Boy or Davy D. Jones, Imu would almost always leave matters to others.

In some matters, he showed a unique sort of generosity—or rather, complete disregard. For example, after attacking the Five Elders, Garp still became a Marine hero through propaganda.

Roger was not even on Imu's radar at this point. Once he confirmed Rocks' "death," Imu ended his descent mode and returned to Mary Geoise.

Nereus, flying alone through the sky, was even less of a concern. It did not take him long to leave the vicinity of God Valley.

Having left ahead of the others, Babel and the rest had already broken through the encirclement. They were now sailing across the sea, and Nereus caught up with them before long.

"Big brother, how did things go over there?"

Babel, who was at the helm, casually asked about the situation at God Valley. Even though he had left early, he had seen how massive the commotion there was.

Babel now understood deeply that his big brother had been right. With destruction on that scale, if he had stayed on the island, he might not have been able to leave.

"You'll probably never hear the names God Valley or Rocks again. The World Government will spare no effort in erasing every trace that they ever existed."

"Is that so? That really fits their style. But of course, how could they possibly admit something like this?"

After so many years at sea, Babel knew perfectly well what the World Government was like. Leaving everything else aside, the Void Century alone was enough to explain it all.

But those words meant something else to the others aboard the ship.

"Um... benefactor, what should we do from now on?"

"You? I have two options. One is to find a safe island where you can disembark, and after that, everyone can fend for themselves."

During their past voyages, aside from rescuing slaves, Nereus would also help merchant ships that had suffered disasters at sea. In these perilous waters, shipwrecks occurred far more frequently than in an ordinary world.

Especially on the Grand Line, where unpredictable weather often caused ships to sink. For those who had somewhere to go, this was usually how he handled things.

After all, Nereus and his group were not a passenger ship. They could not keep these people with them forever.

"Then... what is the other option?"

"I have another island. It's a little far from here, but it's safe enough. If you want, you can live on that island."

That island was located in the New World, near the Calm Belt. With the Calm Belt surrounding it as well, it was a peaceful sanctuary in the sea.

Many of the slaves Nereus rescued were homeless. Their hometowns had long been destroyed, and they had nowhere to go.

Traveling alone across the sea only put them at risk of being captured again.

Nereus did not leave those people to fend for themselves either. He settled them on that island.

"If you live on the island, you must follow its rules. Because of the surrounding waters, it is also difficult to leave. You can take your time considering it."

At those words, whispers began to spread across the ship.

The difficulty of leaving the island was not really a problem for people of this sea. The main reason was that every island essentially faced the same issue.

The unique environment of the Grand Line meant that islands rarely interacted with one another. Two neighboring islands could even display entirely different eras. An ancient island and a futuristic island being neighbors was not impossible.

Even in the relatively stable Four Blues, most residents never went out to sea. Even when fishing, they only worked near the coast. Many people never left the island where they lived for their entire lives.

Dangerous waters, the possible appearance of Pirates, the cost of ocean-going tickets, and many other factors had created this situation.

Only people with special occupations, or those who set out to sea with all kinds of ambitions, frequently made long voyages.

Moving to another island would not have any particularly significant impact. What they were more curious about was what order Nereus meant existed on that island.

Those who had once been slaves were the first to make up their minds, deciding to follow Nereus to the island he had mentioned.

Most of God Valley's residents made the same choice. A small number still hesitated, but seeing what the others chose, they soon made up their minds as well.

At that moment, an enormous figure flickered in and out among the clouds overhead. Looking closely, one would discover that it was a giant dragon.

The dragon also spotted the warship below, then dove down as though it had found prey.

"Worororo, a lone warship. Perfect, I was just getting hungry... Is that Babel?"

The dragon was naturally Kaido. After eating a Devil Fruit, Kaido had chosen to leave God Valley by flying.

After fighting on the island, he had not suffered any injuries, but his stomach was empty. He had happened to discover this warship.

To Kaido, a warship was, to a certain extent, his dining hall.

Back when he had first become wanted, whenever he got hungry, Kaido would deliberately get himself captured. Once he was locked inside a prison ship, he would break free of his chains and escape, then leave after filling his stomach.

This time, when he intended to repeat the old routine, he saw someone he knew on the ship.

Kaido was naturally not afraid of Babel, but under normal circumstances, Nereus should have been nearby at a time like this.

"So he really is here..."

Kaido quickly spotted Nereus on the bridge. However, he did not turn back and instead landed steadily on the deck.

"Kaido?"

"Nereus, I didn't expect to see you again here. We really are fated.

Want to do something big with me? I want to build a Pirate crew that speaks through violence, using absolute force to decide everything!"

Kaido temporarily put his hunger aside and extended an invitation to Nereus instead.

"Kaido, if we follow your logic and force decides everything, then if I join you, wouldn't you have to listen to me?"

Nereus did not refuse outright. Instead, he questioned Kaido from another angle.

"Uh..."

"Come to think of it, you broke things in my tavern before. Haven't you still failed to compensate me?"

"Well..."

"And there's also..."

"Wait! Nereus! A Marine snuck onto this ship! Let me take him out!"